


A Place Called Home

by misbegotten



Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-31
Updated: 2017-01-31
Packaged: 2018-09-21 03:53:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9530405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misbegotten/pseuds/misbegotten
Summary: Secrets upon secrets. It's a shaky house of cards without a firm foundation.





	

**Author's Note:**

> An interlude between 3x09 and 3x10. Spoilers ahoy.

The Chamber of Memories was almost romantic. Almost, if you didn't think about the significance of the candles.

Jenkins had, at Eve's request, pointed out Flynn's candle. It was guttering, a waxy pool. A cold wave swept through her as she watched it flicker.

"Do you wear those high heels so you'll be taller than me?" Flynn asked from the doorway. His eyes were still a bit puffy. Saying goodbye to Charlene had been heart wrenching for him.

"Absolutely," she retorted, forgetting the candles for the time being. "I need every advantage over you that I can get."

"Well, keep trying," he said with a forced grin. "Everything going according to plan?" 

"Mmm," she said noncommittally. It had been a shock to learn that General Rockwell was head of DOSA. A shock, but also good news. Luring DOSA to the Library would be that much easier.

Lies. So many lies. The burden was taking its toll on Eve. She was used to handling classified information. Compartmentalization was in her bailiwick. They had already planned how to lead Stone, Cassandra, and Ezekiel out of the Library and to safety while they dealt with Apep. But...

Flynn's candle was flickering. Charlene's candle had gone out. 

"It's almost romantic in here," Flynn said, inadvertently echoing her earlier thought. He slipped his arms around her. She leaned back and closed her eyes, the afterimage of candles still dancing in her head. "Should we order dinner? Do a bit of dancing?"

He was trying hard. But Eve knew him better now, knew the pain he was trying to hide behind the façade. "Just hold me," she said.

His embrace tightened. He buried his head in her shoulder. "I'm going to miss her so much," he said, voice muffled.

"I know." She turned, wrapped her arms around him. He'd shed his tears for Charlene, but now grief wracked him anew. She felt him shudder and wanted to desperately to come up with a plan, to fix the problem.

She felt helpless. She felt scared. These were not feelings with which she was accustomed. She thought of the events that still needed to unfold and worried.

"Flynn," she said when she decided her voice would be steady enough. "You know how much I love you, right?"

His voice was thick with emotion. "Oh, Eve," he said. He stepped back a pace, out of her arms, and she felt bereft. "Love you back."

She took his hand, squeezed gently. "Then tell me what's going on," she urged him. "Your candle is--"

"My candle is like me," he reassured her. "Messy. Unpredictable. Still hanging in there after all these years."

'Hanging in there' wasn't enough right now. She wanted promises. She wanted lies. 

She settled for returning to his embrace. He hugged her, kissed her. First her forehead, then her nose, and finally her lips.

He tasted like sorrow. It nearly broke her heart. "Kiss me like you mean it," she whispered.

And he did. There was so much in that kiss. Heated desire. Solace. The promise of things to come. When they came up for air, she chuckled lightly. "You brought your A-game," she said.

"My A-game, my B-game, my C-, D-, and E-games," Flynn agreed. His arms were still around her. She wanted nothing more than to lose herself in him, in those kisses. But now was not the time for passion. Instead, she laid her head on his chest.

"I should be comforting you," she said.

"We can comfort each other," he murmured. And that was right. That was the truth. Without each other, they were nothing.

The future was a hidden road. But Charlene had stepped through that mirror willingly, had become something even more than a Guardian. She was part of the Library in a way that was indispensable. Severing her connection with the Library, she'd called it, but in a way she'd become an even bigger part of it.

Maybe the other side of the mirror waited for Eve too. Someday. But not yet. All her life she had been looking for a place where she belonged. She'd found a refuge in the Library. She'd found family with the Librarians. She'd found purpose as a Guardian. But most of all, she'd found love. Things she'd never expected to have. Maybe not happily ever afters. But happily for nows.

"Come home?" she suggested. 

"Home," Flynn agreed. Home had become her apartment, at some point. Once a barren space, now filled with Flynn's unique form of detritus. Striped vests, brightly colored cravats, more books than she had shelves to hold. And Flynn himself, when he wasn't off adventuring.

Home was, after all, where the heart was. And Eve's heart was firmly lodged in Flynn's grasp. Like the steadily encroaching tide of Flynn's belongings in her apartment, she was overcome by him. 

"Hey," Flynn said, in a tone she recognized easily as his 'I'm trying to be casual but burning with curiosity' voice, "What was it that Charlene said to you?"

Those words she would hold close to her heart. "Guardian stuff," she said lightly.

"Ah," he replied, throwing an arm around her shoulder and leading her out of the Chamber of Memories. "You're keeping it to yourself."

"Flynn, I--" 

He drew her in, kissed her cheek. "It's okay," he said softly. "I understand."

Eve wasn't even sure if she understood. But that was part and parcel of the Library -- mystery upon mystery. Adventure upon adventure. And secrets, too.

Too many secrets, maybe.

She looked back into the Chamber as they left. Flynn's candle shone, but the sense of foreboding that she'd felt earlier returned.

"Flynn, you're going to stick around," she said, statement rather than question. But then, because she couldn't help it, she added, "Right?"

"Every moment that I have," he said, "I will spend with you."

Not an answer, she noted. A promise, one she was happy to have, but not an answer. "Hey," she said with mock casualness. "What _did_ happen to you in the Bermuda Triangle?" She'd asked before, and he had proved unwilling to elaborate. As before, he didn't answer. "You're keeping it to yourself," she echoed.

"Eve, I--"

She stopped him with a look. "It's okay." And it was. "I understand."

She closed the door to the Chamber of Memories firmly, and threaded her arm through Flynn's. Perhaps they had achieved détente. He had his secrets, she had hers, they had theirs. She could only hope that their house of cards didn't come tumbling down. That the hope she'd placed in their plan didn't get blown out like a wayward candle.

She took a moment to kiss him. Deeply, passionately. With everything her heart felt too heavy to carry alone.

"Whew!" Flynn said when they parted. "I should keep secrets from you more often."

"No," she said gently. "You shouldn't. But it's okay if you do."

"I'll hold you to that, Colonel Eve Baird."

"As long as you hold me, Librarian Flynn Carsen," she countered.

"That is a promise I can easily keep."

The lights in the Library brightened a little, as if pleased by their talk.

"Thanks," they both said. And laughed.

Her apartment might have become their temporary lodgings. But the Library, she thought with satisfaction, was truly their home.


End file.
